Come Back to Me
by Bellalyse Winchester
Summary: A Danny-Jenny Dannifer I guess story. Life outside the ARC is harder than Jenny thought it would be. A chance encounter with Danny makes her wonder if running from the truth is the best choice. T because I'm paranoid.


**Dannifer fiction. (I believe in Jenutter, of course, but I also think Jenny can move on. She's a tough girl.) **

**Come Back to Me**

Jenny stepped into the bar hesitantly. She wasn't comfortable, not here, not when she knew the secret things lying in the dark places of time.

Her boyfriend Devon followed her, shouting to the barman before he was even inside. He'd already had a can of beer at her flat; he'd insisted, however, on going out for a drink. He hated these types of places; that was specifically why Jenny insisted on coming here. That, and she adored karaoke. Not a pastime anyone she knew would expect of her, but she liked to show off singing. She was good.

She chose a table near the stage, setting her purse down lightly. A man was on the stage, doing a fair rendition of 'Viva la Vida'. She looked to the crowd within the bar; most people were intently watching the man sing and occasionally shouting out their opinions, but there was one man sitting on a barstool ignoring the singer and slowly but surely crawling into a bottle as he slurped on a beer. Jenny's eyes widened as she saw who it was, and she quickly and instinctively hid her face behind her pocketbook.

Her boyfriend seemed to dislike her choice of seating. He grabbed her arm and jerked her upwards, to the bar where Danny was sitting.

Devon was her third boyfriend since Nick's death, and she'd been with him for three weeks. He…wasn't the kind of guy she was used to dating. He was, she admitted, a jerk--and she didn't want Danny to see her with him. It was unavoidable, however, as Devon took the seat on the end. The only seat available beside him was beside Danny as well.

She settled for leaning against the bar on the side opposite Danny, squished up against the corner of the bar. The barman gave them unhappy looks, recognizing Devon as the one to call out impolitely.

"Gimme a beer," Devon said loudly, causing unhappy grunts from the other bar-goers. Jenny grimaced at the barman before asking for a martini in a low voice. She held a hand over her face, not wishing to be recognized by Danny.

Devon began, to Jenny's horror, a conversation with Danny about sports or something. It wasn't reciprocated, except by a few choice phrases and a gesture from Danny which Jenny saw from between her fingers. She finally excused herself, although Devon barely noticed her leave for the restroom.

She found herself on the floor of the ladies' room ten minutes later, head in her hands. She was hardly herself; she would never be so upset usually. She had never fallen to pieces over a guy, especially not over Devon. She realized with surprise that this was the first time she'd felt so horrible since Nick's funeral.

She hadn't entered the church for the ceremony--she hadn't allowed herself to. She didn't think Nick would've liked the funeral anyway; Abby had told her it was somber as could be. She figured Nick would've rather had them drinking to the happy times--there really had been happy times. She knew she'd just fall apart there, and she'd rather fall apart outside in her car.

She did manage to pull herself together to go to the grave the day after the funeral, to pay her own respects. It wasn't right, that he was six feet under and she was there patting down the fresh soil, while she was responsible for his death. They told her she wasn't but she was--if Nick hadn't gone back for Helen, he'd still be alive, and if she had told him she loved him, she _really, truly loved _him, he wouldn't have gone back in. She knew it.

Suddenly she began to wonder whether she was upset about Devon or Danny.

Danny…he was, Jenny had thought, just a stupid copper who wanted to interfere with work at the ARC. But he never said a word against her, no matter what she did to him. She didn't count their first meeting, of course, when he was just doing his job. If somewhat self-servingly.

She bit her lip until it almost began to bleed. Would she go out and meet her boyfriend again, at the risk of being embarrassed before Danny, or wind her way through the club silently, forgetting her boyfriend and walking home?

The second plan sounded much more doable.

She left the bathroom quietly. Someone was singing 'Today was a Fairytale' by Taylor Swift. She kept her head down, and only looked up when she bumped into a man.

"Jenny?" She mentally cursed as she looked up to see Danny. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

She paused a moment before answering. "Oh. Danny, I was just leaving--"

"Oi! Jenn'fer!"

Jenny gritted her teeth, cursing her luck as Devon appeared behind her, nearly legless. "Hello, Devon," she said quickly, forcing a smile. "Danny, this is Devon, my…boyfriend."

Devon didn't appear to recognize Danny from their earlier exchange, but Danny remembered him.

"This son of a--"

"Yes," she said quickly--she wouldn't let Danny see how sick of the man she was, and she put an arm about his waist. "Devon's great, he's a contractor--aren't you, sweetie?"

Devon, totally lit up, took another swig of beer and toppled towards another woman, and Jenny cringed.

"Hey, beautiful," he said to her. "Fancy a mate tonight?" He chuckled, putting his arm about her shoulders and landing a kiss on her neck before she pulled the pepper spray. Jenny took this moment, when Danny wore an expression of disgust as he gazed upon him, to duck out of the bar, tears beginning to come again. She couldn't be weak in front of Danny--she couldn't let him know how broken she was.

"Jen!"

Jenny took a few more steps into the darkness and Danny repeated his call, then she began to run. She felt a firm hand on her shoulder and she was pushed around--Danny was staring her down.

"What the hell?" she asked, and he heaved tiredly.

"Punched that bastard out," he breathed, gritting his teeth.

Jenny glared at him. "What, do you expect me to _thank_ you for beating up on my boyfriend?" she demanded.

Danny rolled his eyes, and Jenny remembered that copper that had stared her and Connor down. "Don't you tell me that, Jen," he growled. "Damn it, Jennifer Lewis, that man was _so_ not your boyfriend. If he was, you've got a hell of a lousy taste in men."

Jenny caught her breath, looking away a moment before staring back up at him. "I do not--"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Maybe not before, but you're tailspinning."

Jenny knew what he meant by 'before'. Before Nick died. Before she left the ARC. She inhaled before speaking.

"I don't know how it's any of your business, Danny," she snapped. "What do you care--you're being just like him!"

Danny realized how firmly his hand was gripping her shoulder and he let her go, but continued to stare at her. "I can't stand seeing you like this, Jenny. Not with guys like that."

Jenny's breath quickened; she took a step backwards. "Yeah?" she asked, a challenge in her voice--she didn't know why she was mad like this. "And what sort of guy would you have me with?"

Danny's mouth fell open; he didn't have an immediate answer for that. After stumbling over a few words, he swallowed and spoke.

"I--er--that is to say--you know," he said irritably. "A good guy. One who cares about you, one who can take care of you, one who really loves…" His voice trailed off on that word, looking away from her. "One who really…really likes you."

Jenny was silent, looking into Danny's eyes before seeming to find something of interest on the ground. "Oh," she said. "Well…that's very considerate of you, Danny." She collected herself. "But I'm pretty sure I can 'take care' of myself. So, I think I'll just go."

She turned on her heel, though somewhere deep within her she wanted Danny to tell her to stop. She walked down the sidewalk, then paused on the curb, praying for a cab. When finally she caught one, she slid in, about to say her address when a man sat down next to her.

"What the hell, Danny?" she asked as he told the cabbie his address.

"I'm going home," he shrugged. "Obviously enough."

Jenny rolled her eyes as the driver pulled away from the curb. "Fine."

They sat in silence, Jenny glaring out the window feeling Danny's gaze on her, until the cab stopped at Danny's house. Danny tossed money to the cab driver and Jenny began to tell the driver her address, but Danny grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the cab.

"What--Danny, what the hell are you doing?" Jenny exclaimed, staring at him with something between fear and anger. "Get off of me!"

The cab driver sped away--Jenny guessed he didn't want to get caught up in something like this--and Danny continued to drag her into his flat. She shrieked in terror.

He pushed her in and slammed the door behind him.

"Damn it, Jenny!" he exclaimed. Jenny barely noticed her surroundings, only seeing the infuriated look on Danny's face. "I can't bloody stand it! You deserve better than that idiot, Jenny. You deserve a guy who loves you, who will love you forever! Not a sleazebag who gets drunk and flirts with other women."

Jenny stared at him in horror. "And you're so much better? You've got me trapped in your house, Danny!"

Danny paused, wincing before stepping out of the way of the door. His tone softened.

"I'm sorry, Jen," he said quietly. "I shouldn't act like this. I know I'm not the guy you deserve. But there's got to be a better man for you than them."

Jenny looked at him sadly, stepping towards the door. "What if there's not?" she pointed out. "What if there is none?"

Danny's mouth fell open; he just turned around and retreated to a farther room. Jenny paused in his living room, about to leave; then she stopped and collapsed onto Danny's old, moth-eaten couch. She closed her eyes, but found only light, uneasy sleep.

She lay there for several hours before she heard movement. She stiffened, ready to strike out if someone tried to hurt her. She almost jumped out of her skin as a blanket was gently placed over her shoulders and she opened her eyes to see Danny standing over her sheepishly.

"Er--sorry, Jen," he mumbled. "I thought you might be cold."

Jenny shrugged, sitting up groggily. "Can't really sleep," she admitted.

Danny nodded. "Neither can I. 'Course, I haven't really slept well in weeks."

Jenny cocked her head to the side. "Why?" she asked, moving to the side so Danny could sit beside her, as she was uncomfortable with him staring down at her, and he took the proffered space.

"Oh, the usual," Danny shrugged. "Terror birds, attacking us from all sides. Future predators, and the giant bugs. Seeing you, literally freezing to death. The scariest sights of my life."

Jenny looked away, a sad smile crossing her lips. "Ah." She took her first real look around Danny's flat; it was such a modest place she felt a little bad. He had a few cheap lamps in two corners, a TV at the front of the living room, the couch they sat on and a chair with a back duct-taped together.

"Not much." Danny noticed where her gaze was and she flushed. "I pretty much live on the basics. It's all I ever need."

Jenny nodded, forcing a smile onto her face. "Yeah…it's nice."

Danny smiled thinly. "I suppose it's not what you're used to."

Jenny nodded, inhaling slowly. She so wanted to change the subject. "So…how've you been doing, besides the anomaly project?"

Danny allowed a freer smile to cross his lips, straining to reach his eyes. "What's outside the anomaly project?" he asked. "It takes up everything, dunnit? Can't really relate to anyone who isn't always in a constant life-or-death battle."

Jenny nodded sympathetically. "I understand," she said, thinking about her ex-fiancé Mark. It hadn't worked out because she couldn't tell him what she really did, and he thought she just didn't care about him, or worse yet, she'd met someone else. "There isn't any time to make up an explanation for friends…none of mine believed I could have PTSD." When Danny raised his eyebrows, she blushed and went on. "Being attacked by a Smilodon, a Giganotosaurus, a mushroom, a giant worm…" She remembered with no fondness the first creature she'd ever seen and grimaced. "A damned idiot running into a burning building for a woman who hates us all. It does things to you, Danny."

Danny frowned. "I'm sorry, Jen," he said quietly, but she shook her head.

"Doesn't matter," she replied tiredly. "Like I told you, I just want to get away from the memories. I just want to forget."

"And like I told you, you won't," Danny argued. "I've tried. It doesn't work. I know you're a strong woman, Jenny, but it's hard."

Jenny looked away, forcing the tears down. "Strong," she said, almost laughing the word a little. "Yeah, I used to think that. But Danny, I'm not strong. Not like everyone else on the team…you fought us to join and help us, even when we didn't want you to risk it. Connor and Abby have been at this from the beginning. Nick and Stephen gave their lives. I'm not like you guys, I'm just the PR. And I'm not even that anymore, remember?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Being brave isn't jumping into the line of fire at every opportunity," he said. "I'm not saying they're not brave; they're brave as hell. But Jen, you're brave, too. You'd do anything for your friends if you had to."

"I couldn't even tell Nick Cutter how I felt about him," she replied tartly. "If I had told him, he wouldn't have ran in after Helen. He wouldn't have died."

Danny sighed; once Cutter was the subject he was in unknown territory. Despite what he had been told he felt he'd barely brushed beneath the surface of the man's persona. The entire staff of the ARC idolized him; if he didn't know better, he'd think they were worshiping him. The scientists would say, "Cutter would know what to do," and, "If Cutter were here, he'd figure it out." Even Lester would occasionally offer an allusion in positive connotation to Cutter. It made him feel bad he'd never met the esteemed professor.

Jenny noted his discomfort and flushed. "Yeah…Danny, I'm sorry I'm totally loading on the baggage--" She broke off, staring into his eyes and growing pale. "God Danny--" She looked away. "I'm so sorry."

Danny inhaled slowly, closing his eyes. "Jenny, you're a great friend. If you need time to get everything sorted out, I'll always be here for you."

Jenny nodded, smiling up shyly at him. "You're a great friend, too, Danny," she said quietly. Leaning in for a hug, she felt a tear or two fall into his shoulder. He didn't say a word. "You're a good man."

When the sun rose that morning, after a few hours of talking, she left for her job--offering to Danny her request that he give Lester hell--as PR for a local company, defending its name with her sharp mind and sharper tongue. They went on from there, neither calling the other but both knowing exactly where to find one another.

When Jenny entered the karaoke bar that Friday, she wasn't surprised to find the tall, brown-haired man waiting for her. She was surprised to find him on the stage, singing, 'Come Back to Me.'

_So I'll let you go, I'll set you free,_

Their eyes met.

_And when you see what you need to see, _

Danny smiled a little bit, but kept up the tempo.

_When you find you, _

At the end of the song, they ignored the other bar-goers.

_Come back to me. _

Danny's hands went to caress Jenny's face and their lips met, each eager to drink in one another.

_When you find you, come back to me. _


End file.
